For Stephen Masyada, civics education has been a lifelong interest. Now, his work in the field will help shape how civics knowledge and skills are assessed for students across the country.

Masyada, director of the , has been selected as one of 20 members of the panel that will help revise the framework for the civics portion of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for the 2032 assessment.

The appointment recognizes his extensive experience in civics education and provides an opportunity to bring his perspective to a national conversation about what students should know and be able to do as engaged citizens.

“I think it’s a recognition of the work we do here at the Lou Frey Institute and at �鶹ӳ����ý in civic education and the impact we’ve had on civics in Florida and in some cases nationally,” Masyada says.

Shaping How Civics Education Is Assessed

The NAEP civics assessment provides data used to understand students’ civic knowledge nationally. While only a sample of students take the assessment, the results provide a broader picture of civic education across the country.

Masyada says the framework is particularly important because it can influence how policymakers and educators understand what should be emphasized in civics education.

“The content of the framework will dictate to states what is seen as important and what they’ll be comparing what’s happening in the states to when they release data,” Masyada says.

He also expects the framework to play a role in national evaluations of state standards for civics and government.

As a member of the framework committee, Masyada hopes to help broaden the way civic education is considered and assessed. Rather than focusing solely on students’ ability to recall facts, he believes assessments should also consider how students apply their knowledge.

“I think we really need to think about something beyond just knowledge, but also scenarios,” Masyada says. “What does the knowledge look like in practice, taking it to that next level?”

He also hopes the conversation will consider how civics education can begin earlier, including at the K-5 level.

For Masyada, effective civic education includes foundational knowledge of the nation’s founding principles, rights and liberties and the responsibilities of citizenship. It also includes dispositions that encourage students to participate in their communities, work with others to address problems and seek solutions to public policy issues.

“How do we measure these different dispositions necessary?” Masyada says. “I think that’s part of the conversation for the committee that’s involved with this.”

Bringing a National Perspective to Civics Education

The committee’s work will bring together perspectives from across the country. Masyada says that is important because civic education varies significantly from state to state.

“We have 50 states and 50 different ways to approach civic education in this country,” Masyada says. “I know what’s actually happening and being taught in Florida’s classrooms. I’ve been involved heavily in standards in this state and helping teachers understand what the standards mean and what they look like.”

A U.S. Air Force veteran, Masyada earned his bachelor’s, �������ٱ��’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Florida and a certificate in instructional design and higher education leadership from �鶹ӳ����ý.

He taught high school in Florida for more than a decade and also worked in North Carolina as a state-level social studies specialist. In 2014, he joined the Lou Frey Institute, where he has continued his work supporting civic education.

His experience working directly with K-16 educators, developing and interpreting standards and supporting assessment initiatives has prepared him to contribute to the national framework process.

He is one of two representatives from the College of Sciences involved in the development of the 2032 civics assessment. In addition to Masyada serving on the 20-member framework committee, Terri Fine, professor emerita from the School of Politics, Security and International Affairs (SPSIA) and former associate director of the Lou Frey Institute, will serve on the 10-member content committee.

“The fact that �鶹ӳ����ý has two people involved I think it’s a huge feather in the cap for all of us,” he says.

As the committee looks toward the 2032 assessment, Masyada hopes its work will strengthen support for high-quality civic education and help establish a shared understanding of what students need to know and how they can participate in civic life.

He also sees an opportunity to consider how the country’s student population has changed and how civic education can provide common ground.

“We’re a far more diverse student population than we used to be,” Masyada says. “So I think having some commonality, some understanding of what can bring this population together, when it comes to civic education, I think that’s one of my hopes.”

Extending �鶹ӳ����ý’s Civic Education Work

The Lou Frey Institute at �鶹ӳ����ý houses the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship and has been a leading provider of civic education instructional and professional development resources in Florida since it was established in 2002.  The institute reaches approximately 300,000 students and 2,000 teachers across every Florida school district.

“We appreciate the opportunity to support and represent the college, the school and the university in these different districts, working with so many different teachers and leaders and representing �鶹ӳ����ý on the national stage as well when it comes to civic education,” Masyada says.

As artificial intelligence (AI), virtual assistants and robots become increasingly woven into everyday life, more researchers are asking this question: What happens when technology stops being just a tool and becomes something we can communicate with?

�鶹ӳ����ý faculty have spent years helping create a field dedicated to finding the answers.

“Human-machine communication is about studying how humans perceive and interact with technology as a communicator rather than simply as a tool.”

This summer, human-machine communication (HMC) reached a major milestone when the International Communication Association (ICA) elevated it from an interest group to an official Division, recognizing it as an established area of communication research. The achievement reflects the rapid growth of a field exploring how emerging technologies are reshaping the way people communicate, form relationships and make decisions.

“Human-machine communication is about studying how humans perceive and interact with technology as a communicator rather than simply as a tool,” �鶹ӳ����ý College of Sciences Professor Jihyun Kim says. “It’s about communicating with machine agents as interaction partners.”

Among those who helped shape the field are faculty members Kim and Professor Patric Spence, whose leadership has contributed to HMC’s development both at �鶹ӳ����ý and within the international research community.

When Technology Becomes the Communicator

Traditional studies of technology-mediated communication typically examine technology as a channel connecting people. HMC shifts the focus to interactions between people and technologies such as AI assistants, social robots and virtual companions.

Researchers explore how these interactions can influence everything from trust and relationships to decision-making and communication.

Although scholars have studied human-computer interaction for decades, HMC is a relatively young field within the communication discipline. It formally emerged in 2015, bringing together researchers interested in studying machines not simply as tools, but as communicators.

Since then, the rapid adoption of generative AI has accelerated both public interest and scholarly research.

Kim, who recently completed a four-year leadership term with ICA’s Human-Machine Communication Interest Group, witnessed that growth firsthand.

“During my four years in leadership, I saw a drastic increase in the volume of HMC research,” she says. “I also saw scholars from interpersonal communication, organizational communication, public relations and many other communication specialties begin collaborating to better understand AI from their own perspectives.”

“We’re studying how humans perceive AI and communicate with it for good outcomes.”

But as public conversations increasingly focus on whether AI could replace human work or relationships, Kim says that’s a common misconception about human-machine communication research.

“A lot of times people assume we’re glorifying AI, but that’s not what we study,” Kim says. “We’re studying how humans perceive AI and communicate with it for good outcomes.”

Her own research explores how people perceive and interact with AI or machine agents and how people can instead use AI to strengthen, rather than replace, human relationships.

“I’m studying augmentation,” Kim says. “How can AI help strengthen the relationships we already have? How can we communicate with AI more effectively, so it enhances our social relationships instead of replacing them?”

Building a Scholarly Home

As interest in HMC grew, so did the need for a dedicated scholarly community.

Spence was among the founding members who organized the first HMC post-conference in 2016, creating one of the first formal spaces where researchers with shared interests could collaborate and exchange ideas.

“Through our research and leadership, we’ve helped put �鶹ӳ����ý on the international stage.”

He later helped establish the journal, which launched in 2020 and is hosted under a �鶹ӳ����ý domain. Before its creation, researchers published HMC studies across broader communication journals, as no publication was dedicated exclusively to the emerging field. The journal provided a central platform for sharing HMC research and scholarship, building an international academic community, and further positioning �鶹ӳ����ý as a leader in the discipline.

“Whenever we do something meaningful in this field, �鶹ӳ����ý is represented alongside that achievement,” Kim says. “Through our research and leadership, we’ve helped put �鶹ӳ����ý on the international stage.”

Kim continued that work during her tenure as vice chair and later chair of ICA’s Human-Machine Communication Interest Group.  She focused on mentoring early-career researchers, expanding the field’s international presence and helping prepare the review dossier that ultimately led to HMC’s elevation to Division status.

From Momentum to Milestone

For Kim, the new designation signals more than organizational growth.

“[The recognition] especially matters for junior scholars because they’re contributing to a discipline that’s formally recognized by the world’s largest communication association.”

“Having this formal recognition within the International Communication Association sends the message that human-machine communication is now an established field,” Kim says. “It especially matters for junior scholars because they’re contributing to a discipline that’s formally recognized by the world’s largest communication association.”

The milestone is expected to create new opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration, including partnerships with researchers studying AI from technical, behavioral and social perspectives.

And as AI continues to evolve, Kim believes HMC will continue growing alongside it, helping researchers better understand not only the technologies themselves but also the people who use them.

“We want to make sure it’s not about studying bad things,” Kim says. “It’s about how we can leverage what AI offers to improve our lives and how we can communicate more effectively.”

For generations, scientists have looked to the genetics inside immune cells for ways to improve how the body fights disease.

Now, a research team led by �鶹ӳ����ý College of Medicine assistant professor Hung Nguyen is examining an understudied molecule within T cells as a pathway to treatments for cancers, infections and autoimmune disorders.

Their study, recently published in Trends Open, focuses on transfer RNA (tRNA), molecules within cells that help build proteins to energize themselves. Nguyen is working to chemically modify these molecules to expand the function of T cells, specialized white blood cells that are the cornerstone of the body’s immunity. The findings represent an important first step toward understanding whether tRNA can eventually be manipulated to fine-tune immune responses to multiple diseases.

T cells play a key role in identifying and killing invasive abnormalities within the body, including infections and cancers. The cells also allow the body to remember previous infections and respond more quickly if re-infected or attacked, says Cuong Pham, a biomedical sciences Ph.D. candidate working under Nguyen who served as the study’s first author.

“T cells are already central to modern medicine,” Pham says. “At the same time, we still do not fully understand all the molecular mechanisms that determine how T cells become activated to respond. Our review brings together emerging evidence showing that tRNA modifications can help support and regulate these responses.”

This discovery comes as a continuation of Nguyen’s efforts to find innovative immunotherapies for a wide range of conditions. An early career researcher, Nguyen earned a “Reach for the Stars” award from �鶹ӳ����ý in 2024 for his potential for significant impact.

An Innovative Approach to Immunity

�鶹ӳ����ý’s research is the first time scientists have tested modifying mitochondrial tRNA in T cells to change their behavior, Nguyen says.

“We are looking at the tRNA modification within T cells that have never been reported,” he says. “In the field, tRNA modification is not so new. For T cells, researchers have been focusing on all the other parts before now.”

The discovery came as a result of an active project in Nguyen’s lab that is examining how diet can affect the immune response in  cancer patients.

“I wouldn’t say we found this by accident, but we were very lucky,” Nguyen says. “We examined the mitochondria of the T cell, and we kept looking at all the different layers and targets and then we arrived at the tRNA.”

Studying tRNA is challenging because the molecules are short and densely packed, making them difficult to analyze and modify, Nguyen says.

So the �鶹ӳ����ý team used cutting edge technology called liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The highly sensitive technique separates massive quantities of molecules in a sample and then identifies and measures them.

“It is very new for use in detecting tRNA, and it was so important for us to see how everything worked,” Nguyen says.

Results Could Impact Other Immunity Research

In the study, the team genetically engineered the tRNA to give T cells signals to activate against specific disease cells.

While the research is still in its early stages, Nguyen says that they have already identified ways to modify T cells to pinpoint and fight melanoma, colon cancer and lupus.

Nguyen says he hopes his new findings will provide a way for other researchers to create new immunotherapies.

“We want to share these ideas with the greater science community and bring everyone together to help us validate them and ultimately benefit more people,” he says.

Drawn to �鶹ӳ����ý for its opportunities for interdisciplinary research, Pham says he’s looking forward to being a part of what’s next in the College of Medicine’s immunology efforts.

“The next step is to move deeper into the mechanisms behind these observations,” Pham says. “Our lab has strong and ambitious research directions in immunometabolism. We want to understand how those changes in tRNA influence T cell metabolism and function, and whether specific pathways can eventually be targeted to ultimately help patients.”

Minh Tuyet Le Nguyen, a �鶹ӳ����ý postdoctoral scholar, and the Hanoi University of Pharmacy in Vietnam also contributed to the research.

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Heart, Lung, And Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01HL166820. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

“To lead this amazing team and help change the lives of people with disabilities,” Marino says, summarizing the impact of his work before emphasizing the impact it’s made on him, “I feel like I’m living a dream every single day.”

A number of factors, personal and professional, feed Marino’s enthusiasm.

He was once given only a slim chance to walk again. He knows how it feels to vanquish doubt and has witnessed dramatic changes in others because someone believed in them, perhaps for the first time.

He funnels all of this — passion, teamwork and life experiences — into his why: Discover better strategies to help more people read, learn and find meaningful employment.

“People with learning disabilities are all around us,” says Marino, a professor of special education in the College of Community Innovation and Education. “There isn’t a moment that goes by when I’m not thinking about how I can make a difference for them.”

His resolve has led to $75.5 million in funding for 18 research projects since 2011. The most recent months, however, have been stunning, with technology unlocking so many doors that Marino can hardly believe what’s happening.

“We’re in a spot with AI that I never thought I’d see in my lifetime,” he says. “It means our opportunities to give people hope are growing.”

Using Tech to Better Serve People

The field of special education is complicated. Disorders, spectrums, challenges that change with age, processing delays, they’re all part of a giant melting pot.

Marino boils his work down to the largest group: those who have specific learning disabilities — about 2.4 million students in the United States.

“Most of them face a constant battle to identify letters and translate them into sounds and words,” he says. “The same is true with math symbols and numbers. It takes a ton of persistence to do basic classwork.”

Unfortunately, frustration often leads capable, intelligent people to give up.

“But our work with AI is changing everything,” Marino says. He puts us in the shoes of a student to illustrate. “You’re studying the complexities of cells, trying to read cumbersome texts about mitochondria and osmosis. Now we can show you how to use AI to code words, phrases or symbols and translate them into understandable text.”

The material can be converted to slide decks, podcasts and videos. A process that used to take five days to complete can be done in one minute.

“What matters most is that students can learn,” Marino says. “It’s a gamechanger for teachers, too. Instead of spending an hour presenting information, they can focus on the reason they love teaching: to give students a better future.”

This far exceeds the futuristic vision Marino brought to �鶹ӳ����ý in 2011.

He didn’t even intend to accept a position when he came from Washington State University for an interview.

“I’m an early adopter of technology,” he says. “On that trip, I was introduced to �鶹ӳ����ý’s work in VR, AR and . I told my wife, ‘I think we need to come here.’”

He immediately dove in, earning research grants and contracts from agencies like the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Office of Special Education Programs, and Institute of Educational Sciences. He’s layered the newest advancements into each project.

The progress made, according to Marino, has mostly come from a force more powerful than technology alone: the team of experts at TJEEI.

“They have siblings who never thrived because of dyslexia or they’ve cared for a family member with memory loss,” he says. “When a student comes in with a story, at least one of us can relate to it.”

Turning Obstacles into Impact

As for Marino’s own story, he recites the date as easily as his birthday: Sept. 23, 1990. Marino, 19, was playing rugby for Keene State College in New Hampshire.

During a breakaway, two opponents hit him so hard his head snapped back and he landed on his neck. In the hospital, he was told a spinal cord injury would prevent him from walking and his life expectancy will shorten.

“I laid in that hospital bed for a long time,” Marino says, “and had a moment with God where I made a promise: ‘If I get up and walk out of here, I’ll change my life and give back to others.’ ”

“I laid in that hospital bed for a long time. … I made a promise: ‘If I get up and walk out of here, I’ll change my life and give back to others.’ ”

That’s exactly what he did, walking out the door and leaving plans for an architecture career in the past.

For his first job, he mentored students with extreme behavior challenges. Marino’s dad, an educator, opened his son’s eyes to an unfortunate truth: They hired you because no one else wants to work with those kids.

“He was right,” Marino says. “That experience made me realize how much it means to a kid when someone takes the time to help, without judging. I also knew the field of special education is where I’m needed most.”

There are too many stories for Marino to recount. Each carries its own weightiness, so he shares a recent one: “We heard from a graduate who was named employee of the month at Amazon. When we first met, he was living in a poor area of Orlando, riding a bus two hours to �鶹ӳ����ý. But he committed to learning and improving his life. We gave him the same commitment. And now look how he’s doing.”

The daily inspiration Marino finds in people he helps at �鶹ӳ����ý is part of why he doesn’t dwell on the near-tragic accident or the limitations it still causes at times. Instead, he focuses on the benefits that continue to grow from it.

“I walked when doctors said I wouldn’t,” he says. “I made it to 30 years old, to 40 and to 50. I’m still going, still keeping my promise, and I have no intention to stop.”

Wayne Bowen, �鶹ӳ����ý associate vice provost for undergraduate studies and professor of history, has been selected as a member of the 2026-27 cohort of the American Council on Education (ACE) Fellows Program.

Established in 1965, the ACE Fellows Program prepares emerging higher education leaders for senior administrative roles through a yearlong experience that combines mentorship, professional development, national networking and immersive placements at host institutions. More than 2,500 higher education leaders have participated in the program, with many going on to serve as presidents, provosts and senior administrators.

Bowen was one of 31 higher education leaders selected through a highly competitive, nomination-based process that drew candidates from colleges and universities across the country. �鶹ӳ����ý President Alexander N. Cartwright nominated Bowen for the fellowship, recognizing his leadership across undergraduate education, academic affairs and student success initiatives.

“I was thrilled to be selected,” says Bowen. “It’s the most-recognized leadership development program in higher education, and I really appreciate the support from �鶹ӳ����ý leadership in making this opportunity possible.”

As part of the fellowship, Bowen will spend the 2026-27 academic year working with leaders at New York University, where he will be mentored by NYU Provost Georgina Dopico and immersed in the university’s academic affairs operations.

NYU’s Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Mark Siegal, who met Bowen through the Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities, also will be working closely with him.

“The NYU Office of the Provost is thrilled to have Dr. Bowen join us for his ACE fellowship,” Siegal says. “We know we will gain as much from his perspectives and insights as he will gain from this development opportunity.”

For Bowen, NYU represented an opportunity to study leadership, innovation and decision-making at one of the nation’s leading research universities while also gaining insights relevant to �鶹ӳ����ý’s strategic ambitions.

“NYU was my first choice,” Bowen says. “I wanted to go to an institution that’s a member of the Association of American Universities, that’s operating at a large scale and that reflects some of the aspirational goals we’re pursuing as a metropolitan university.”

During his fellowship year, Bowen plans to spend approximately one week each month at NYU while maintaining his responsibilities at �鶹ӳ����ý. In addition to learning about the university’s academic processes and curriculum, he hopes to gain a broad understanding of how another large, complex university operates and navigates periods of transition.

“There are things happening at NYU in terms of faculty development and undergraduate education that I want to learn about,” said Bowen. “I would like to experience as many aspects of the institution as possible. Getting a sense of the culture and the dynamics of how they make decisions, and observing how the org chart actually operates, will be interesting.”

The fellowship also provides participants with opportunities to learn from a national cohort of higher education leaders representing academic affairs, student affairs and institutional administration. Fellows participate in retreats, monthly meetings and collaborative learning experiences throughout the year.

Bowen says he believes one of the program’s greatest strengths and what he finds most compelling about the ACE Fellows experience is its emphasis on bringing new ideas back to participants’ home institutions.

“The most common way that administrators and senior leaders learn is by moving from one institution to another,” Bowen says. “The wonderful thing about the ACE Fellows Program is that it enables fellows to have some of that experience without it being a one-way trip. It’s supposed to be learning in both directions.”

In Bowen’s current role at �鶹ӳ����ý, he oversees initiatives supporting academic services, high-impact practices, , curriculum and student success for more than 59,000 undergraduate students. He also leads �鶹ӳ����ý’s General Education Program and serves as a professor of in the College of Arts and Humanities.

Before joining �鶹ӳ����ý in 2017, Bowen served in academic leadership roles at Southeast Missouri State University and built an internationally recognized scholarly career focused on Spanish, European and Middle Eastern history.

• Associate Professor Chen Chen – Associate Member
• Professor Ivan Garibay ’00MS ’04PhD – Associate Member
• Professor Jayanta Kapat – Full Member
• Professor Damla Turgut – Full Member
• Associate Professor Thomas Wahl – Associate Member
• Associate Professor Dazhong Wu – Associate Member
• Professor Xiaohu Xia – Associate Member
• Professor Yang Yang – Associate Member

Full members are recognized as established leaders with a sustained record of exceptional impact in their respective fields. Associate members, who are new to ASEMFL this year, are recognized for their professional accomplishments and emerging leadership.

“We are proud to welcome this exceptional group of scholars and innovators to ASEMFL, including our inaugural class of associate members,” says Yogi Goswami, ASEMFL president and distinguished professor at the University of South Florida. “Their lifelong dedication and creativity have led to transformational advances in their fields, improving lives and strengthening our communities.”

Since its establishment, ASEMFL has grown to more than 300 experts grounded in common research and educational pursuits who are committed to undertaking issues in science, engineering and medicine of particular interest to the state.

This year’s cohort is the largest in ASEMFL history. All new members will be inducted at the ASEMFL annual meeting, which takes place in November at the University of South Florida.

Chen Chen

Associate Professor in the and the Institute of Artificial Intelligence

Citation: For pioneering contributions to multimodal and federated learning and real-time, privacy-preserving video analytics, advancing trustworthy and efficient AI systems for public safety, healthcare, and societal well-being.

Jayanta Kapat

Pegasus Professor and Director of the Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research

Citation: For innovative research and digital twin modeling and their impact on improved costs, efficiency and emissions in advanced turbines and energy systems.

Nasser Kutkut

Graduate Faculty Scholar in the

Citation: For having pioneered high-efficiency and IoT-enabled battery charging systems, cloud-based energy management, and smart telematics platforms — technologies that cut costs, reduce emissions, and modernize industrial and electric vehicle power management worldwide.

Ivan Garibay ’00MS ’04PhD

Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems and Director of the �鶹ӳ����ý Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Initiative

Citation: For pioneering work in AI for modeling complex human behavior, including the development of inverse generative social science, evolutionary model discovery, green technological innovation, and AI for social resilience against disinformation and polarization.

Damla Turgut

Pegasus Professor and Chair of Computer Science

Citation: For pioneering contributions to the application of value of information in wireless networks, and for outstanding leadership in advancing research and education at both the university and international professional society levels.

Thomas Wahl

Associate Professor in the and the Center for Integrated Coastal Research

Citation: For pioneering work on flood risk analysis, coastal compound flooding and assessment of coastal hazards at multiple scales under weather extremes.

Dazhong Wu

Associate Professor in the

Citation: For contributions to the development and implementation of machine learning-based techniques for part qualification and certification in advanced manufacturing.

Xiaohu Xia

Professor in the

Citation: For pioneering artificial enzyme research, achieving unprecedented catalytic efficiencies and developing diagnostic technologies with substantial clinical and societal impact.

“Dr. Xia’s research is an excellent example of how cutting-edge research in the College of Sciences leads directly into transformative applications for the betterment of humanity,” says Josh Colwell, College of Sciences dean. “His recognition by ASEMFL is particularly appropriate given the nature of his innovative work combining nanomaterials and fundamental chemistry research for healthcare applications that will directly impact people’s lives.”

Yang Yang

Professor in the

Citation: For being an accomplished scholar in developing energy materials using nanotechnology.

Driving Research Excellence at �鶹ӳ����ý

Together, the honorees exemplify the breadth of research excellence driving innovation across �鶹ӳ����ý’s College of Sciences and College of Engineering and Computer Science.

“Jay Kapat, Damla Turgut, Chen Chen, Ivan Garibay, Thomas Wahl, Dazhong Wu, Yang Yang and all faculty in the College of Engineering and Computer Science have contributed significantly to the research and education in their disciplines and their induction to the academy is a testament [to] their meaningful accomplishments,” says Michael Georgiopoulos, College of Engineering and Computer Science dean. “The academy is expected to benefit from their expertise and their anticipated service to move its mission forward.”

That’s the future a team of �鶹ӳ����ý researchers is building, and their groundbreaking work has earned international recognition.

A team of �鶹ӳ����ý researchers has won an industry award for using robotics and digital twins to blend human intuition with technological innovation.

Their work, Be There Without Being There: Humanoid Robot Immersive Telepresence, received the Auggie Award for Best Interaction Product at this year’s Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, California. Auggie Awards, which received over 330 entries across 18 categories, are among the world’s most recognized honors in the augmented and virtual reality industry.

The award-winning �鶹ӳ����ý team includes computer science student researchers Judah Rowe ’23 ’25MS, junior Liam Abramov, seniors Seniah McField and Megan Bailey, Assistant Professor Mohsen Rakhshan, and is led by �鶹ӳ����ý Institute for Simulation and Training Interim Director and Agere Chair Professor of Computer Science Carolina Cruz-Neira. In addition to this honor, Cruz-Neira received the 2026 Auggie Award for Innovator of the Year.

Together, they developed a system that pairs a humanoid robot with an immersive digital environment, allowing a person to interact with a remote location as if they were physically there.

The technology creates a real-time digital twin of the robot’s surroundings while mapping the user’s body movements directly onto the robot.

“From a technical [standpoint], this is perhaps the first working product or system that actually [allows] a human to be physically functional in a remote location as if they were really there,” Cruz-Neira says. “We map the body of the human to the robot. So the human walks, the robot walks. The human moves, and the robot moves. The human turns the head, the robot turns the head. It’s almost like the concept in the movie Avatar.”

While Cruz-Neira and Rakhshan guided the project, she says the talented �鶹ӳ����ý students are responsible for successfully implementing physical telepresence.

“This project was done entirely by �鶹ӳ����ý students,” she says. “They are the ones who solved all the problems. They brought it to this level of sophistication to win the award.”

The technology has applications across industries wherever people cannot safely or easily be physically present.

A robot could enter buildings damaged by hurricanes or earthquakes to assess structural damage and search for survivors. Healthcare providers could remotely examine patients with limited mobility or those living far from medical facilities.  Someone unable to travel could experience strolling along the Champs-Élysées in Paris through the robot’s perspective.

The most important aspect of the work is its ability to blend human intuition with technological innovation, Cruz-Neira says.

“At the end of the day, we have a human element, and robots can help us extend our human capabilities through this amazing technology,” she says. “This project is about [using] technology to augment or extend our human capabilities to help us do things more safely and more effectively.”

The team continues refining the technology to enhance the human experience. Future developments include incorporating artificial intelligence to give the robot greater autonomy and adding a sense of touch that would allow users to remotely feel temperature and texture, as well as manipulate objects.

Cruz-Neira says the project demonstrates not only what’s possible through emerging technologies, but also what �鶹ӳ����ý students can accomplish when given the opportunity to tackle complex real-world challenges. The students have taken this project from the lab into the real world. They’ve built a robust working prototype that’s an exceptional display of real value for the community.

“�鶹ӳ����ý is making [its] mark in the world as the technology university,” she says. “This project demonstrates that as a university, we’re part of the future that we like to talk about. [We’re helping build it.]”

�鶹ӳ����ý researchers are known worldwide for their innovative studies, groundbreaking discoveries and contributions to patented technologies that have impacted society and influenced other leaders in the field.

Two College of Engineering and Computer Science professors and a three-time �鶹ӳ����ý alum-turned-courtesy faculty appointee are now being recognized for their achievements that have advanced the quality of life for the state of Florida and the nation.

Professors Reza Abdolvand and Ni-bin Chang and Lockheed Martin Fellow Clara Rivero Baleine ’01 ’03MS ’05PhD have been named 2026 inductees of the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame (FIHF). This initiative celebrates pioneering inventors and empowers future problem-solvers and changemakers.

This initiative celebrates pioneering inventors and empowers future problem-solvers and changemakers.

This year, 10 inventors from Florida will be inducted during a formal ceremony in Tampa on Nov. 6. Since FIHF was founded in 2013, five faculty inventors from �鶹ӳ����ý have been recognized with the distinction.

“Induction into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame represents the ultimate validation of a lifelong commitment to translating academic research into industry practice,” Chang says. “Being inducted into the Hall of Fame, which includes over 90 inventors in different fields is also a testament to the thriving Florida innovation ecosystem and the power of continuous, groundbreaking discovery.”

A Career in Environmental Innovation

Chang was selected for induction based on his groundbreaking invention of green sorption media (GSM) and sustainable water treatment technologies that improve water quality.

GSM is a cost-effective and sustainable type of filtration media that uses recycled byproducts and natural minerals to treat stormwater runoff, wastewater effluent, groundwater flow and agricultural discharge.

There are a variety of patented GSM blends that can filter heavy metals, pathogens and contaminants from water systems. This process not only restores aquatic ecosystems but halts the transmission of waterborne diseases, and eliminates cyanotoxins and “forever chemicals” from water that can harm both humans and animals.

“Removing these diverse contaminants from water matrices provides profound, cascading benefits for both human health and aquatic ecosystems,” Chang says. “By eliminating the risk pathways associated with both acute exposure and chronic bioaccumulation, these GSM-based treatment technologies support fundamental ecological balance and public well-being.”

GSM blends are already used at more than 300 water treatment sites across the U.S.

The Inventor of Advanced Electronics

Abdolvand, the chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was named an inductee for his contributions to the field of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) — incredibly small devices that have mighty power. Specifically, he is the inventor of a class of microelectronics called Thin-Film Piezoelectric-on-Substrate (TPoS) devices, which improve the reliability and efficiency of a wide range of electronics, including cell phones.

“By improving the efficiency and reliability of the components that make up these systems, the impact, while often invisible to the end user, is very real,” Abdolvand says. “Better performance, lower power consumption, and more reliable devices are the kinds of improvements that quietly make everyday technology work better for everyone.”

Abdolvand’s interest in innovation stems from his natural sense of curiosity. He says his tendency to connect the dots between seemingly unrelated events or systems has served him well throughout his career in research and academia.

“The moment it all clicked was during my Ph.D., when I was first given the opportunity to work on genuinely hard technical problems,” Abdolvand says. “I realized I could come up with solutions that simply did not exist yet. That realization was a turning point.”

As his career progresses, Abdolvand hopes to leave behind a legacy that is less about devices and innovation and more about people. His passion for educating, inspiring and creating opportunities for students means more than the impacts of his inventions.

“What excites me most is seeing students take the seed ideas developed at the university and carry them forward into their own companies, their own inventions, their own contributions to society,” Abdolvand says. “That chain of innovation — from a research lab to a startup to a product that improves people’s lives — is what I find truly meaningful. If I can play even a small role in setting that chain in motion for as many students as possible, that is the legacy I would be interested to leave behind.”

On the Cutting Edge of Infrared Materials and Optics

Driven by a desire to protect people and advance technologies that matter, Rivero Baleine joined Lockheed Martin, a �鶹ӳ����ý Pegasus Partner, in 2005 after completing three degrees in six years at �鶹ӳ����ý.

Rivero Baleine now serves as a Lockheed Martin fellow, contributing to cutting‑edge innovation in infrared materials and optics.

Rivero-Baleine’s gradient refractive index optical materials and metamaterial coatings transformed infrared sensing systems for defense and advanced photonics applications.

“I am profoundly proud and deeply humbled to be welcomed into such an extraordinary community of inventors and innovators,” Rivero-Baleine says. “What inspires me most is knowing that these innovations will become part of systems that protect service members, strengthen national security and expand the capabilities of the platforms we rely on. That sense of purpose continues to drive my work every day.”

Rivero Baleine continues to maintain strong ties with �鶹ӳ����ý through a courtesy faculty appointment at CREOL and serves on the CREOL Dean Advisory Board and the �鶹ӳ����ý Material Science Industrial Advisory board.

Rivero Baleine is a Burnett Honors Scholar and earned a bachelor’s degree in physics, and a �������ٱ��’s and a doctorate in optics.

For scientists working on NASA’s proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory, that question is no longer purely philosophical. It is increasingly becoming an engineering problem.

Researchers at �鶹ӳ����ý’s are helping develop technology designed to help future space telescopes detect potentially habitable planets orbiting distant stars.

The NASA-funded project, known as PEEPSS (Photonics-Enabled Exoplanet Spectroscopic System), aims to help astronomers directly observe planets hidden within the overwhelming brightness of their parent stars.

“If they’re in the habitable zone, that means they are orbiting close to their host star, and that host star is typically going to be 10 billion times brighter than the planet,” says Professor Stephen Eikenberry, principal investigator on the project.

To explain the difficulty, Eikenberry compares the task to trying to spot “a tiny blinking light while someone is shining a spotlight directly in your face.”

The work supports the long-term goals of NASA’s proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), a future flagship space telescope intended to search for Earth-like planets beyond our solar system and analyze their atmospheres for signs of life.

Solving One of Astronomy’s Hardest Problems

Astronomers already know planets are common throughout the universe. The challenge now is identifying Earth-like planets that are extraordinarily faint compared to the stars they orbit.

Astronomers use instruments called coronagraphs to block a star’s glare while allowing faint planetary signals to reach a telescope’s detectors.

Even then, however, microscopic imperfections in a telescope’s optics can allow enormous amounts of starlight to leak through the system.

“And you can say, ‘Well, that’s only a part in a million,’ ” Eikenberry says. “Guess what? A part in a million means it’s still 10,000 times brighter than your exoplanet. You’re doomed.”

The system performs an advanced form of wavefront sensing that detects and corrects tiny distortions in incoming light before they overwhelm planetary signals.

Unlike many existing systems that monitor light earlier in the optical process, PEEPSS performs wavefront sensing directly at the telescope’s focal plane, the same location where scientific imaging occurs.

That distinction is important because it allows researchers to detect and correct optical errors that emerge after light passes through a telescope’s coronagraph. Scientists refer to these distortions as “non-common-path aberrations.”

To explain the concept, Eikenberry compares the system to trying to monitor a room you cannot fully see.

“Imagine you’re in a house and you want the entire house to be perfectly clean,” he says. “You can see people walking into the bedroom, but you can’t actually see inside the bedroom itself. That’s the non-common path.”

By monitoring the complete optical pathway all the way through to the focal plane, researchers hope PEEPSS can help future observatories achieve the extraordinary precision necessary to detect habitable worlds.

A New Approach Using Photonic Lanterns

At the center of the project is an emerging technology known as a photonic lantern.

The device separates complex incoming light into individual optical channels, allowing researchers to recover not only brightness information, but also phase information carried by light waves, data that conventional imaging systems typically discard.

“Traditional detectors wipe that information out,” Eikenberry says. “Photonic lanterns allow us to recover it.”

That additional information enables what researchers describe as “quantum-inspired imaging,” an emerging technique that uses light behavior to improve image resolution and filter out the remaining starlight.

Researchers at CREOL have become major contributors to the rapidly growing field of astrophotonics, which combines astronomy, fiber optics and advanced photonic technologies.

“There are really only two major centers doing cutting-edge work on photonic lanterns,” Eikenberry says. “Us and the University of Sydney in Australia.”

The project brings together collaborators from �鶹ӳ����ý, University of California, Santa Cruz, the University of Sydney, and the Space Telescope Science Institute. At �鶹ӳ����ý, Eikenberry works alongside graduate student Genevieve Markees and researchers including Rodrigo Amezcua Correa, Miguel Bandres and Jose-Enrique Antonio-Lopez, whose expertise in fiber optics and photonics helped establish the collaboration.

Looking Toward Habitable Worlds

The current PEEPSS project is structured as a three-year effort focused on building and testing prototype photonic lantern systems in laboratory and telescope environments.

Some versions of the technology have already undergone testing on telescopes in Hawaii through collaborations with the Air Force Research Laboratory and international research partners.

Ultimately, researchers hope the technology could become part of the future NASA missions searching for habitable planets around distant stars.

“If we can identify habitable worlds around other stars and show they possess conditions where Earth-like life could survive, that’s already revolutionary,” Eikenberry says. “If we discover actual evidence of life, then we’re talking about one of the greatest scientific discoveries in human history.”

For Eikenberry, humanity may now be approaching a historic turning point.

“We are one mission away,” he says.

And if future observations succeed, humanity may no longer simply wonder whether life exists elsewhere in the universe. For researchers involved in the project, that possibility is what makes the work so compelling.

“We’ll look up and know.”

The PEEPSS project is supported by NASA through award No. 80NSSC26K0577 and brings together researchers from �鶹ӳ����ý, the University of Sydney and the University of California, Santa Cruz to develop advanced photonic technologies for future exoplanet imaging and spectroscopy missions, including NASA’s proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory. The initial PEEPSS concept development was supported by the �鶹ӳ����ý through its SPICE Academic Excellence Program.

Two �鶹ӳ����ý researchers have received U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Awards supporting separate engineering research projects focused on how complex systems sense, adapt and respond to changing environments.

The awards were presented to Chinwendu Enyioha, an assistant professor in , and Mohiuddin Quadir, an associate professor in . Among NSF’s most prestigious recognitions for early-career faculty, the CAREER Award supports researchers who show strong potential as academic leaders while integrating research, education and student development.

Recognizing Emerging Research Leaders

While Enyioha and Quadir work in different engineering fields, both researchers are developing systems designed to respond under complex conditions — including autonomous systems coordinating under limited communication and nanoparticles interacting with biological signals in complex environments.

Enyioha says the award will enable his group to build on years of prior work, including early doctoral students who helped lay the foundation for the project.

“It gives us the opportunity to study these problems and acknowledges the effort that has gone into making important findings in this area,” Enyioha says. “It will enable us to continue training doctoral students and make contributions to the broader cyber-physical systems research community.”

For Quadir, the award will help support the long-term development of ideas his research group has been pursuing for years for engineering ‘smart’ materials with programmable form and function.

“This recognition means a very significant impact for our research group and for the progression of our ideas,” Quadir says. “This is a core idea that we want to develop over time, and for that, you need logistic support, intellectual support, collaborations, and of course, newer ideas.”

Designing Autonomous Systems Under Communication Constraints

Enyioha’s CAREER project, “Limited-Communication Control of Teams of Autonomous Systems” focuses on developing mathematical frameworks and distributed algorithms that allow teams of autonomous systems to coordinate effectively under bandwidth-limited communication constraints.

The research examines how spatially distributed systems — including robotic networks, wireless sensors and autonomous infrastructure systems — can continue operating cooperatively even when communication bandwidth becomes constrained or unreliable.

“One way to think about it is if you have a bunch of robots that need to solve a particular task. Clearly they have to talk and agree and coordinate,” Enyioha says. “The question we are interested in is how can they solve that problem when they are not able to talk freely with one another?”

Communication constraints are common in real-world environments, including disaster zones, underwater systems and crowded networks where many devices compete for limited bandwidth.

“Our focus isn’t on situations where we have no communication, but on being efficient in how we use limited communication resources down to single bits,” Enyioha says.

To explain the concept, Enyioha compares the challenge to compressing navigation instructions.

“If you want to go from Orlando to Houston, Google Maps gives you a long list of instructions,” he says. “But if you only had two pieces of information to give someone, you might say, ‘Go north. Then go west.’”

The project also studies resilient systems capable of continuing to operate even when communication channels fail or individual components become compromised, an important challenge in areas such as disaster response, autonomous infrastructure and large-scale robotic systems.

“In the community we call this designing autonomous systems that gracefully degrade,” Enyioha says.

Engineering Materials That Respond to Biological Signals

Quadir’s CAREER project, “Nanoscale Interactions of Stimuli-responsive Nanoparticles with Enzymes,” investigates how engineered nanoparticles can be designed to recognize and respond to biological signals in ways that mimic certain characteristics found in living systems.

“As you know, in [human] physiology, in the physiology of the plants, in the physiology of any living materials around the world, there is a very basic paradigm that goes on, which is selective responsiveness to a particular stimulus within the myriad of noises,” Quadir says. “This sensitivity means a system can register and isolate signals from a complex external environment and translate them into an action.”

Quadir says his research group is trying to translate that biological principle into the materials world by engineering nanoparticles capable of recognizing specific molecular signals and producing targeted responses.

The research focuses on enzyme-responsive nanomaterials — particles capable of interacting with enzymes at the molecular level. Quadir says his research group designs and engineers the molecular building blocks of nanoparticles so they can recognize specific enzyme signals and respond accordingly.

Potential applications could include medicine, aging research, environmental science, and adaptive materials capable of responding to dynamic biological environments.

Supporting Long-Term Research and Education

Both CAREER projects include education and outreach components designed to train students and expand engagement with emerging areas of engineering.

Education and workforce development are central components of Enyioha’s CAREER Award, he says. His research group includes doctoral, �������ٱ��’s and undergraduate students who participate in research on autonomy, machine learning, and distributed optimization theory, with applications to networked cyber-physical systems. Beyond the university, he also introduces younger students to these fields through programs such as �鶹ӳ����ý Camp Connect, where K-12 participants are introduced to decision-making algorithms and autonomy during a week-long summer program.

“Seeing real demonstrations helped them understand how core concepts from math and physics apply to real problems,” Enyioha says.

Quadir acknowledges the work done by the graduate students and postdocs towards the research goal. He is grateful to his mentors, collaborators and colleagues at the department and college for their guidance and inspiration, and the National Science Foundation for research support.

Quadir says scientific and engineering research ultimately aims to improve the lives of others.

Together, the awards highlight how �鶹ӳ����ý researchers are advancing engineering systems capable of adapting to increasingly complex biological, computational and real-world environments.

Enyioha’s CAREER Award project, “Limited-Communication Control of Teams of Autonomous Systems,” is supported under NSF award GR110760. Quadir’s CAREER Award project, “Nanoscale Interactions of Stimuli-responsive Nanoparticles with Enzymes,” is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under awards GR111180 and GR111181 (Award number  – 2609681)